Kasich’s team at the Ohio Department of Transportation recently announced that only $100 million a year will be available to fund new construction projects approved by Ohio’s Transportation Review Advisory Council (TRAC). As a result, vital road work around the state is being delayed for years and, in some cases, decades.

As we’ve mentioned before, the previous administration budgeted $317 million in fiscal year 2011 while the Kasich budget appropriates just $60 million in Fiscal 2012 and $123 million in Fiscal 2013 out of a $5.5 billion two-year budget.

Kasich’s strategy is clear: cut the crap out of transportation funding then claim budget shortfalls are hurting local projects in an attempt to convince people that the only solution is to raise money through privatization of the turnpike.

It’s a clear attempt to manipulate us. And anyone who pushes Kasich’s ‘we have no money’ argument is clearly pushing a load of bull, and we all know it.

You want further proof?

Kasich’s people are now asking for nearly $3 Million – or 3% of the funding mentioned about – to pay for consultants to research the sale of the Turnpike, or possible take over by ODOT.

It’s true part of the money for this study comes from the feds – like a lot of the transportation budget. But it turns out it wasn’t enough to cover the cost of the consultants Kasich hired (KPMG) and so ODOT is now going before the Controlling Board on Monday to asking for millions more.

Not enough money for new projects, but plenty for consultants to advise on privatization of state assets. You’re not fooling anyone, Governor.

Evangelize!

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Bring it, Johnny. I can’t wait for this fight. Spending millions on a study is not going to convince those voters along that Turnpike corridor that this is a good idea and not to kick your party’s ass over this in November. Oh wait. It should be BOTH of your party’s assess since you’ve bitterly divided it in less than a year.

Anonymous

Millions of dollars for studies but only pennies for improvements. Kasich and Wray are a couple of the lowest form of slime; their theories are the worst kind of conservative tripe, their methods are sloppy and their conclusions highly questionable. They can’t run an office, they can’t run a department and they certainly can’t run a state – they are just common scum who have risen to the top of the pond and so far eluded removal. If they want a study, how about taking a survey of how many tax payers want to lease or privatize the turnpike to create a new source of wealth for Kasich and his friends? Not many, I’ll bet, especially in Northern Ohio!